Show 1084 Wednesday 8 July
Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.
Hi, I’m Sarah, welcome to The Daily English Show.
Yesterday it was the Tanabata festival in Japan. People celebrate Tanabata by writing wishes on small bits of paper and hanging them in bamboo.
photo by: Toshihiro Oimatsu
photo by: wtnb75t
photo by: Tamaki Sono
Of course, not everyone does this, I think most people probably don’t … and you’re more likely to do it if you go to a school or kindergarten. And yesterday I read a diary entry on lang-8 about Tanabata. A guy said that his daughter celebrated the festival at kindergarten and one of the wishes that she wrote was: I want toys of Anpanman.
What’s wrong with that?
Anpanman is a Japanese cartoon character by the way.
And this should be: I want Anpanman toys.
Some more examples following that pattern could be:
I want Mickey Mouse toys.
I want Thomas the Tank Engine socks.
I want Winnie-the-Pooh stickers.
Click Here
Today I recommend a site called MyLifeIsAverage.
I found this in a story on CNN about humour sites … and I think it’s pretty funny. It’s a list of very short stories about, as they say on their site: the mundane things in your life.
They’re the kind of stories that do actually happen to you but that you wouldn’t normally tell anyone because they’re not that interesting.
Here are a few examples:
Today I threw an empty bottle into the recycling bin about 10 feet away and made it. I wished more people were there to see it happen. MLIA.
Today, a cute guy sat next to me on the bus. I changed the music on my iPod to something more intelligent in case he looked to see what I was listening to. He didn't. MLIA
Today I made a new email account, when it said my password was "very strong" I got excited. MLIA
And here’s one about language that I can relate to … but probably shouldn’t admit to.
Today, a friend had emailed me saying "skools gunna bee sweetz nxt year :D goinnn outz tonite, wanna chillz:) ?" I was highly irritated by her spelling and grammar, so I never replied. MLIA
STICK NEWS
Kia ora this is Stick News. A living monument began in London on Monday. It’s an art project by a British artist and will continue for 100 days 24 hours a day.
Antony Gormley is a 58-year-old English sculptor.
His latest work is called One and Other.
It’s an art project in which 2,400 people stand on top of something called a plinth in Trafalgar Square for an hour each for 100 days.
The project started on Monday at 9am and is being streamed live online 24 hours a day.
And that was Stick News for Wednesday 8th of July.
Kia ora.
Word of the Day
Today’s word is mediocrity.
On the about page of MyLifeIsAverage it says that the site is a place to share your everyday mediocrity.
So, what is mediocrity?
n. the quality of being average or not very good
The adjective is mediocre.
And it means: average or not very good.
And it’s usually used in a disapproving way, for example if you went to a movie or you had a meal at a restaurant and you didn’t think it was very good, you could describe it as mediocre.
Have you been to The Banana Café?
Yeah, I have.
What’s it like? I’ve heard it’s really good.
Really? I thought it was pretty mediocre actually.
conversations with sarah
#687 What’s Anpanman about?
Step 1: Repeat Kara’s lines.
Step 2: Read Kara’s lines and talk to Sarah.
Kara What’s Anpanman about?
Sarah Um, good question … I don’t think I’ve actually ever seen it or read it.
Kara Isn’t it very popular?
Sarah No, it’s ridiculously popular. Well, the merchandise is anyway. You see it everywhere.
Kara What does Anpanman mean?
Sarah Oh, the name?
Kara Yeah. Is it just a name?
Sarah Well, anpan is a kind of pastry. It’s like a sweet bun with beans and sugar inside. And man means man. So anpanman is a character made out of anpan.
Kara And what does he do?
Sarah Um, fights the bad guys I guess. I don’t know. And I think all the characters are made out of some kind of food. Like there’s one that looks like a piece of toast.
Kara Called Toastman?
Sarah Yeah, probably, I don’t know.
music
show start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: Future Cha Cha
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site
click here start
artist: #NarNaoud#
album: Green Vision
track: Oriental Standing
from: Gironde, France
artist at Jamendo
album at Jamendo
artist site
WOD start
artist: DJ iPep's
album: Home Mix 2007
track: Game Toy
from: EVREUX, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site
cws start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: The Jazz Woman
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site
qa start
artist: ioeo
album: triptracks
track: triptrack2
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site
qa bgm
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: Tea Roots
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site
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